


i'll be your wheels, i'll be the road

by WomanOf1000Faces



Series: Through the Drifting Sands of Time [2]
Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mentions of UNIT, Zoe is the Doctor, companions as the Doctor, hints of Jamie/Zoe, human romance is not something everybody knows how to navigate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WomanOf1000Faces/pseuds/WomanOf1000Faces
Summary: In which the Doctor becomes a leader, acquires friends, ponders mysteries of the heart, and meets the Time Lords again.
Relationships: Second Doctor & Zoe Heriot & Jamie McCrimmon
Series: Through the Drifting Sands of Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087013
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	i'll be your wheels, i'll be the road

**Author's Note:**

> See notes on part 1 of this series if you're confused.
> 
> Title is from Brandi Carlile's "Carried Me With You".

The Doctor was dying, but she’s not anymore. 

She can feel slightly longer hair brushing past her ears as she slowly maneuvers to her feet. Height doesn’t seem to have changed much, nor apparent physical age. Personality remains to be seen.

She needs to get out of these clothes. Into what, she doesn’t know yet, but this sweater and slacks just won’t do.

Ben and Polly are huddled together at the far side of the room, identical expressions of terror on their faces. The Doctor attempts a reassuring smile - this body seems to smile more easily, for some reason. “You don’t have to be afraid. It’s still me. I’m still the Doctor.”

They don’t believe her right away, but given that Polly just saw what happened to Grandfather, it’s less difficult to convince them than she might have thought.

She leaves the pair of them to process for a few minutes, while she hunts for the wardrobe room. And a mirror. 

The new her isn’t half bad, in terms of looks. Slightly lighter brown hair, smooth and bobbed, wide eyes, snub nose, round face. She’s not sure she’ll be able to pull off the intimidating stares that she used to copy from Grandfather, but she still looks young enough by most species’ standards that she can use people underestimating her to much the same effect.

Thinking too much about Grandfather, about how pointlessly and horribly he’d died, is painful, but fortunately the same Time Lord instincts that took over to get them all out of that spaceship help her push the grief aside in favor of getting done what needs to be done. She gets rid of the bloodstained, regeneration-smelling clothes, takes a long shower, and looks around for something new. New Doctor, new style.

A glittery dark-blue jumpsuit catches her eye.

The new outfit shocks Polly just a little, and makes Ben briefly turn red and stare at the ceiling, but the Doctor pays them no mind. People always take a while to get used to each other again after a regeneration, and then they all move on with their lives.

Except they can’t this time, as it turns out. It’s not just that she looks different: Grandfather is gone, and although he could occasionally get grumpy about the relative intelligence of the non-Gallifreyan members of their party, his leadership was the equalizer that ultimately allowed the Doctor, Ben, and Polly to all be friends. The Doctor sees no reason why this relationship can’t continue, but her being in charge drives a wedge between them whether she wants it to or not. Part of the problem is that they’re from an era in Earth’s history where women are barely allowed to be in charge, and on top of that she looks younger than they do. Ben, therefore, seems to think that he should be the de facto leader, despite the fact that the Doctor is the only one who has a hope of flying the TARDIS and has over a century on him. Polly tries to be a buffer in the ensuing disputes, but she will ultimately choose Ben when push comes to shove, and they all know it.

Jamie, the young Highlander who’s found his way into their party, doesn’t seem to have a problem with her, but the Doctor suspects that this is because he’s never quite ceased to believe that she is a faerie. That supposition does not seem to be especially at odds with what she suspects is a budding attraction to her. Which. Well. What does one do about that, exactly?

Ben and Polly are lucky enough to land in their own time again, and depart. The Doctor would be relieved that that awkwardness is over, or sad that it had to end that way, except she’s rather too busy because the TARDIS has been stolen. 

***

Evidently, it’s her fate in this regeneration to always have a crowd around her, because by the end of the (very, very long, Dalek-y) day, she’s picked up two new companions without even trying.

Pat is what the local people would call a tramp, or a drifter. He has no permanent address, which may be why he isn’t especially bothered to find himself one hundred years in the past after following a couple of running mad people into a shop. From what the Doctor knows of human culture, she is aware that this is supposed to be a character flaw, but she finds Pat be curious-minded, carefree, difficult to intimidate, and ready for anything - all excellent qualities. For a non-Gallifreyan, he is remarkably un-gobsmacked when he first enters the TARDIS, merely taking a moment to note its peculiar nature before nodding briskly and carrying on. He will do nicely.

Victoria, she’s not so sure about. The girl is prone to fits of delicacy and frightens easily, but the Doctor suspects she has a steely spine under her frilly dresses, and is willing to give her a chance. If nothing else, she wants another woman on board - maybe if Jamie has an aesthetically pleasing female of his own species in close proximity, he’ll stop with the - well, she doesn’t know what to call it, precisely.

He looks at her like Ian would look at Barbara sometimes, or like Ben would look at Polly - like he wants to protect her from all the dangerous things in the universe, go wherever she goes. Which is ridiculous, because she is far more durable than he is, and perfectly capable of protecting herself (and she thinks he knows this, and admires her for it, and yet still has these instincts, which doesn’t help). And because all her companions leave eventually. Jamie will be no exception.

Victoria leaves. She wants a family, and stability, and the Doctor can’t fault her for that - she remembers when she wanted a family, too. Jamie isn’t happy, but he stays. He stays and he keeps  _ looking _ at her like that, and Pat sometimes watches the two of them with a knowing gleam in his eye, but says nothing, just keeps tinkering with whatever bits and pieces he’s managed to accumulate in his coat pockets this time.

Pat is the one who people assume is in charge, often, those military people trying to deal with the yetis in London, for example. The Doctor tries not to be offended at this, focusing instead on people like Lieutenant Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, whose name is almost long enough to be worthy of a Time Lord and who merely quirks an eyebrow when she steps forward and announces  _ she’s _ in charge, before letting her get on with it.

It can’t last, obviously. Traveling without a care in the world, with two people who respect and like her and who have chosen to be with her from the beginning, is too good for her to be allowed to keep.

The Time Lords find them.

Pat scoffs and blusters in their too-serene faces and Jamie is brave, so brave, right up until he realizes what they mean to do and then she can see the fear in his eyes. Separation is terrible, forgetting is worse.

The Doctor burns inside, wants to drop-kick the lot of them into their next regenerations when they say returning Pat and Jamie to how they used to be is for the best, is the kindest thing. Pat was sleeping in doorways, not knowing where his next meal was coming from, when he took up with her. The TARDIS is his home. Jamie...dear, sweet Jamie was living in a  _ war zone _ when they met. He was a  _ soldier _ . If they send him back there he could die.

The Time Lords have given them just enough time to say goodbye. The Doctor wants to promise that she’ll come back and fetch them just as soon as she can, but she knows better than to make empty promises. There is no way she’ll be allowed a working TARDIS after this is over. Instead, she pulls Pat close and rests her forehead against his briefly, turns to Jamie and presses her lips to the same spot. It’s a good enough cover for the quick telepathic work she has to do to shield their memory centers. They’ll never see her again, but their lives won’t be stolen either. It’s the only gift she can give them, and when she meets their eyes, she thinks they understand.

Then they’re gone, ushered away through a nondescript door, and one of the Time Lords gestures dismissively at her. Unconsciousness, blank and cold, slips over her just ahead of the light that burns away her face.


End file.
